


you have a greatness in you

by questionablesidekick



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Gen, untagged minor relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-29
Updated: 2017-11-30
Packaged: 2019-02-08 06:55:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12859200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/questionablesidekick/pseuds/questionablesidekick
Summary: Light spreads across Gotham as the dead rise, but not all of the new Lanterns can control their emotions. As the dead swarm, they must come together to beat them back.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Castle in the Air](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12851016) by [rredhoods](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rredhoods/pseuds/rredhoods). 



> untagged relationship is harley/ivy & later batcat. it's not the main focus, so i chose not to tag at the moment so people who check the tag won't get their hopes up for something nonexistant. this may change, and then tags will change.

**PART I: RAGE**

 

_ Dick Grayson _

 

Blood in his mouth, leaking through his nose. Damian, pulled into the masses. Jason, gone after him and still hasn’t reappeared. Comms are dead. If you are not in sight of another Bat… you are. You are  _ presumed _ …

 

_ You have great _

 

He nearly pops the head off of one of the dead. Matter falls onto his fingers. He’s not sure what it is. These aren’t Black Lanterns, nor one of a dark magician’s machinations. They just are a science, down to a fault. Noninfectious was confirmed three hours ago. It’s not a help to the poor souls ripped apart hours ago.

 

Tim soars in from a roof, displacing a man from grabbing at his short hair. His foot goes through his chest. Tim doesn’t flinch. “Dick,” he says, worried, and suddenly Dick’s aware of the blood covering the bottom half of his face, “Are you alright?”

 

“Damian.” Dick says, “Where’s  _ Damian _ ?”

 

Tim pales, glancing at the last place he’s seen the child fighting. He’s not there. Neither of them can hear either Jason or Damian fighting. “Did you see which way they went?” He demands. Dick nods, and Tim goes after them and Dick’s right behind him.

 

“Barbara,” Dick manages to get out, “The girls, are they?”

 

“Fine.” Tim says. “They’ve cleared out the Clocktower, they’re waiting on us to get there. Nobody’s heard from Bruce or Kate. The Fox family is in the Clocktower.” A flash of metal. Tim’s staff goes through a head. The body drops with a dull thud.“Anything from your end?”

 

“Civilians are holed up. In Police HQ, mostly.” He ducks under an arm, yanks the creature over one shoulder. The arm comes off as it’s flung. He drops it in disgust. There’s a small space where they can rest, in an alcove of a shop. The dead don’t notice them. “Riddler let some civilians down in his mazes. Gave up control, theoretically, of them.” He turned and carefully checked. Clear. He gestures and they climb up to the roof. “Nothing from other rogues.” He remembers. “Duke’s with the one’s that are in the maze. He promised to go to the Clocktower once he was sure the Riddler wasn’t going to try to kill them.”

 

There’s a scream. They sprint towards it, leaping between the gaps in the roofs. Tim’s the one to drop onto the zombie. Dick stays on the roof, keeping watch. Quick spaces between seconds, the zombie is downed and he’s helping the teenager up. “Are you alright?” Tim asks.

 

“I’m fine.” The kid stammers out, “She- it was trying to  _ eat  _ me!” 

 

A quick mental calculation. Fire station is closest. Has it succumbed? Unlikely, shutters were down. People were using the roof to get out. Dick decides. “Red Robin- the one on the next block.” Tim nods. He helps the kid onto the roof. It’s safer. If necessary, they can leave the kid on here for short periods. 

 

The escort is quick. They use their grapples more- have to, the building are taller and despite the  _ twhip  _ that catches attention the dead can only swarm and not climb. They drop the kid off on the roof and the Firefighter Captain requests of them to get water, if possible. Someone has cut off the supply. They don't promise, but they will remember. 

 

Off again. This time, they are more spread out. Still in sight of another, but one is on the streets when possible and one on the roof to keep watch. Damian and Jason are missing. Nobody has heard from Bruce and Kate since the beginning of the unholy night. Any sight of any of them would be welcome. 

 

“ _ Hood! Hood where did you go! _ ” Dick grapples back to the roof, and without a word, they run. Breathe isn’t wasted. They skitter to a halt. 

 

Jason has given Damian one of his guns at some point, and Robin is cornered. Jason is nowhere in sight, and with Damian’s shouting, it wasn’t planned. He’s firing methodically into the crowd of the dead despite this, conserving ammo. There is still a massive crowd slowly closing in, bottled neck in the alley.

 

“Todd!” Damian finally screeches. Frightened. 

 

Dick holds up a fist.  _ Wait _ . Finally most of the dead are in the alley. They drop. He spares a half second to flash Tim a smile, and his eskrima sticks are out and electrocuted. Damian has stopped calling out, and is frantically reloading. Tim kicks out a back of a knee. Staff shoved in the head. Staff yanked out to take out another. Dick’s shoving his way in the thick of it. Armour is protecting most of his body, his face the only thing left vulnerable. They don’t get close enough to touch it.

 

Damian spots them. He has climbed onto a dumpster now, to avoid the grasp of the waiting dead. He starts to ignore the ones closer to him, in favor of getting the ones sneaking behind Dick or Tim. Dick’s there, suddenly, ignoring the gun and grabbing Damian. Tim sees, and grapples to the roof. Dick’s seconds behind him. Minutes later, they are six blocks away. 

 

_ Dick Grayson you have great _

 

“Unhand me!” Damian demands, smacking Dick’s hands. He drops him. Damian lands with a huff, brushing off imaginary dirt. “Thank you,” he says, and clearly he does not enjoy it, “for assisting me.”

 

“It’s fine.” Dick says before Tim can say anything. “Where did Jason go? Have you seen him?”

 

Damian’s a child, and has a child’s guilt. “He,” he says with a small amount of hesitance, “He just vanished. He was there and he was not there and I didn’t,” he pauses, corrects himself quickly, “ _ did not _ see which way he went. I had only a gun that he gave me.” He wipes at his face irritably, and it leaves a streak of what  _ everyone  _ hopes is dirt. 

 

“Right.” Dick says. “Great.” 

 

“Jason wouldn’t get eaten.” Tim says with some authority. “I mean. He survived  _ my  _ Titans in scaly panties. Zombies would be a treat for him.” Tim flicks his staff in and holsters it. 

 

There’s a flash of light in the sky. All three of them track it until it vanishes. 

 

“Looked like a ring.” Tim says again. “You think?”

 

“Don’t be stupid,” Damian says. “Rings cannot fly.” There’s a beat of silence. Damian colors. “You  _ cannot blame me for forgetting about them! They are all imbeciles! _ ”

 

“This is almost like last time.” Dick muses. “But I didn’t see the color. Did you two- no. We’ll presume it wasn’t a Black Lantern ring then.” They all look at the apparent landing spot. All of them  _ itch _ to check it out. Jason comes first.

 

“Todd would have found a place to wait.” Damian says. There’s hope in his voice. He still feels guilty about losing Jason in the crowd. Despite this, all of them know Jason wouldn’t stay in one spot unless he was severely injured. 

 

Unconsciously, they are all listening for gunshots. None of them ring out.

 

They spread out. Damian stays on the roof. One of them is on the opposing side of whatever building he’s on, where he can see them but they cannot see each other. Trust is paramount. Tim whistles, and then gestures. Damian nods, stops and Dick quickly joins him on the roof.

 

Jason is wheezing in the alleyway. Blood trickles from his nose and his eye is blackened. Half of his unprotected face is bruised- when did he lose the helmet? Like Dick, who has not yet bothered to wipe away the blood covering his face, Jason is covered in filth of a different kind. Ground up dirt. Suspicious substance that is almost gelatinous. 

“Dick?” Jason says. He sounds lost. “I didn’t...I tried to get to him.” 

 

“Here, lean on me.” Dick says urgently and Jason obligingly goes. The way his chest is rising, Dick thinks more than a few ribs were snapped. “Jason do you think you can make it to the Tower?”

 

“I dunno.” Jason says. “I dunno where the squirt is either, and I  _ tried  _ but they were fucking everywhere, filled up the street and I couldn’t get back Dickie.” Dick shushes him, aims his grapple, and they are on the roof. The Clocktower is two miles north. He prays Jason can make it. 

 

“Holy shit.” Tim says, “Jason, you need a rebreather?” It’d be a shit stand-in for an oxygen tank, but when Jason nods slowly, Tim gives it to him. Jason bats away his hand and fixes it in his mouth himself.  His shoulders slump a little and he can support his weight a little better. 

 

“Todd!” Damian circles back, “I see you’ve gone and gotten yourself beat up.” He sniffs haughtily, but he’s close to Jason, enough for the older man to ruffle his hair. Damian permits it grudgingly. 

 

The four of them set off. They all stay on the roofs, reunited. Damian scouts ahead, memorizing spots where zombies swarm. Tim flits, helping Damian and them alternatively. The streets are eerily silent. Everyone on them without means of defending themselves has died brutally. They’ve saved who they could. 

 

The Clock Tower looms within reach when they all hear the distinctive, nasally yell. “Bud! Get back here!” Plants rip through the streets. Damian looks back. A question. Dick pauses, gestures towards Tim and Red Robin and Robin drop onto the streets. 

 

“Ladies.” Tim says, “What brings you on the streets tonight?”

 

“Lou got loose,” Harley says mournfully. Bud sulks back up, pouting with an arm in his mouth. He tears at it. “We’re looking for him.”

 

“And Selina.” Ivy says disdainfully. 

 

“I  _ was  _ getting to that Red!” Harley snaps, before a low muttered “ _ sorry _ .” Ivy rubs her back. “Kitty went missing too.” She looks up at them, hopeful. “Will ya help us look?”

 

“We cannot Quinn.” Damian replies. He sounds regretful, at least. “We have a higher priority than finding a lost woman that can take care of herself.” 

 

“Like  _ what _ .” Harley demands. “Kitty’s missing and neither of you care?” 

 

Before anyone could reply, there was a breathy gasp. They looked over. A zombie. Ivy waved a careless hand. Green bursted through the earth, impacting it’s skull. It fell soundless. They turned back. A robin tweeted.

 

“We have our own missing.” Tim said. “And our own injured. Selina can take care of herself.” He paused. “If you come to the Clocktower and  _ promise you won’t do anything to us _ we can help you look.” 

 

The two women exchange glances. Ivy whispers in Harley’s ear. 

 

“We’ll come by if we can’t find her.” Ivy replies. “We won’t  _ start _ anything.” Unspoken. They’ll return any threat gladly. 

 

“Fine.” Damian grits out, and he’s clambering like a monkey to get to the rooftop. Tim nods, and follows. The women fade back into the shadows, the hyena trailing after.

 

Jason’s looking better. He has some color in him at least, with the break and the rebreather working to restore a minority of issues. Dick’s still supporting him. “Went alright?” Dick questions. When they nod, he tugs Jason gently and they start again. 

 

“They’re coming by the Tower if they don’t find Selina.” Tim says. Dick grunts in acknowledgment. He’s lagging. He’s been carrying over two hundred pounds of muscle for over thirty minutes.

 

Finally the Tower looms. Dick gathers Jason close and grapple onto the roof, before kicking at the tiles to activate the roof opening. Damian and Tim land silently. They’re shoving at each other, relaxing with the promise of imminent safety.

 

That’s when the ring slams  _ straight onto Dick’s finger.  _

 

_ DICK GRAYSON YOU HAVE GREAT RAGE IN YOUR HEART _

 

Dick  _ screams.  _ The tile opens. Jason drops with a heavy thud. 

 

Damian swoops to help Jason down the chute. Tim stays to watch warily. 

 

_ WELCOME TO THE RED LANTERN CORPS _

 

There’s a chant of no. Dick’s spitting out red, angry blood. The roof around him is soon slick with it, and when Dick glances at Tim, his eyes are red-veined and  _ angry _ . Red light closes around him, and Dick is enclosed in red. 

 

The light fades. Dick snarls at him, mouth red and wet, before running off the roof and vanishing into the night in a red bloody streak. 

 

“Oh  _ no _ .” Tim finally breathes, and goes down to tell the others. 


	2. Chapter 2

**PART II: HOPE**

 

_ Duke Thomas _

 

People are crowding together. Despite the Riddler being in lockup, despite the few officers the GCPD was able to spare for them, the people in the mazes are terrified. Zero Year is remembered by all, and Duke Thomas does his best to stay visible. The bright yellow of his uniform helps. 

 

He’s been sitting on one of the half-built walls, talking to the kids that seem to show up around him. Not all of their parents are in the crowd. From what he’s gathered, most of the kids here are from a tentious pissy daycare worker, who was one of the only people who didn’t leave the kids alone. She’s close by too. Watching him with the wary kind of hope. 

 

“You’re gonna stop them right?” There’s hundreds of the dead moaning around the streets. He’s killed more than a few on his way down here. But that’s not what she means, is it?

 

“Of course.” He replies, and smirks at her. Her shoulder slump a little. The reassurance worked. Inside, he’s hoping he  _ can _ .

 

He knows can’t stay down here all night. He’s  _ praying _ that everyone else in the vigilante clan of Gotham is alright, that they haven’t been ripped apart by the monster roaming the streets. Comms are down. He has not been in contact with any of them since Tim swung by to check on the maze, and that was well over an hour ago. 

 

Think Duke. What can you do?

 

_ You are capable of _

 

He checks the doors again. Locked up tight, chains interlocked to ensure that nothing got in or out. He has a key. The cops have a key. Someone out in the crowd of civilians has a key, but he knows that second hand from the cops, and hasn’t yet verified who it is. Stupid of him, really. He needs to figure out who  _ that  _ is, and then he can go. 

 

He goes back to the cops. They’re slumping around the control room, avoiding the switching on the panels. They  _ should  _ be down in the crowd, but of course, they took the easy way out. He can maybe excuse one. He’s injured, tired looking and bloody. He’d scare the shit out of everyone. The other two, he can’t.

 

“You ought to be  _ down  _ there.” He tries his hardest to be polite. It’s something that they’ve been working in the cave, watching his tone with people he distrusts. He’s not very good at it, and it shows when backs stiffen up. 

 

“Don’t you say a fucking  _ word _ , Lenahan.” The injured cop snaps. Duke properly looks at him, and something niggles in the back of his mind. He’s met him before, he’s sure of it. “The kid’s right. Most of the people down there prolly don’t even know that there’s cops up here, never mind three of us.” He pauses. “Well. Two of us that don’t look half-dead.”

 

“The kid doesn’t get to tell me what to do,” Lenahan says, heated. The third cop rolls her eyes. “He  _ doesn’t  _ Tiana.” he insists. 

 

“He is, and I agree with him.” Tiana hisses back. “I only stayed up here because I wasn’t sure if Bullock was gonna turn into one of those moaners. And sorry,” she turns to him, “But one of us does need to stay up here for that.” Duke shrugs. She’s right. “So go say hello to the crowd, Lenahan.”

 

He shoves past Duke. The door slams behind him. Everyone rolls their eyes. 

 

“Ignore him.” Tiana says. “He’s got something against vigilantes since the first Black Mask died. Don’t even know why he cares about that so much. He got his rocks off on torture, man ought to be glad someone put him down.”

 

Bullock groans. Both of them watch him for a moment, one hand on a gun and other on an escrima stick. When he doesn’t lunge at them, they relax. 

 

“Sure.” Duke says. He doesn’t give a shit about what a cop might have against him. “I know you gave a key to someone down there. I need to talk to them before I go.” He scoffs his boot against the floor. 

 

Bullock coughs out a laugh. “Catwoman has it.” He snickers. 

 

Tiana rolls her eyes. “ _ Holly  _ has it. Don’t know where everyone got that idea from.” She grumbles. “She’s white, skinny as all hell, and looks like she could lay someone out.” 

 

“Idea about what?” Duke questions. Tiana gives him a look and he crosses his arms. “C’mon. You oughta know I’m new around here.”

 

Tiana relents. “Six years ago, The East End precinct claimed they unmasked Catwoman. But, they lost the files. They mighta unmasked her, but she sure didn’t waste anytime stealing them back. Apparently, before she stole back the files, they got a first name out of her. Holly. I think it’s fake. No way Catwoman has a name like  _ Holly _ .” Tiana sniffs. Kneels down to check on Bullock’s bandages. 

 

Noise erupts from below. Duke leans over to look out the control room’s window and smiles. People are shouting, questioning Lenahan. He examines the crowd, notes how most of them are watching rather than shouting. It probably won’t get violent. He thanks Tiana, slips down the stairs. 

 

Duke needs to make sure he’s not leaving this place unprotected. If the moaners get in, and there’s no protection- what happens next is on him. If this Holly woman is what the cop says she is, someone who is capable of protecting others along with herself, than he can rest a little easier. Probably. 

 

Holly’s towards the back of the area where people have gathered, sitting against the wall with her legs spread out obnoxiously. There’s a few kids that Duke recognizes as being from the Alleytown gang clustered around her, each one giving him a suspicious look. She’s wearing a trench coat, zipped up to her throat. It’s oddly clean. Everyone else is covered in some degree of dirt, of sweat, of some matter of grime. It’s unavoidable with the moaners rambling about. 

Holly’s face is streaked with dust and grime. Her short hair is matted up with the darkness of sweat. But the trenchcoat is almost brand new.

 

Tiana might have been wrong. But here’s the thing. He knows who Catwoman is. Something isn’t quite adding up the way it should be.

 

“Are you Holly?” he asks. 

 

“Sure.” She replies. He thinks she might be early twenties. “Are  _ you _ Robin?”

 

One of the kids nudge her as Duke rears back in offense. “No that’s the Signal! He’s the daytime Batman!”

 

_ Daytime Batman _ Duke mouths incredulously. Sometimes he really can’t believe kids. 

 

“Little young to be a  _ Batman _ .” Holly says. “I should know. I’ve lived through three.” She shrugs. “Can you tell me what you want kid?”

 

Legacy changes. Sometimes it changes back. He’s been Robin for a time with the gang when Batman was missing. Damian came back and he gave it up gladly. Duke knows he’s not sidekick material. But he  _ can  _ be an equal. A partner. He’s willing to bet Holly is too.

 

“You were a little young to be Catwoman.” He retorts. “But you were when Selina couldn’t do it, were you?” Holly glares at him. The kids, he can tell, already know. “I need your help. I can’t stay here.”

 

“Kid you cannot be seriously thinking about going out there. People need you down here.” She snaps back. “Someone to remind them hope isn’t lost.”

 

“Yeah. A  _ symbol.  _ And Catwoman would be just as good as the Signal, wouldn’t you think?” Duke retorts. “I have to find people. I have to  _ be out there _ and not in here, stuck. I know Selina isn’t the person protecting the East End right now, is she?” Please. He thinks. Help me out. 

 

Holly undoes her coat.

 

It doesn’t take people long to notice Catwoman’s there, perching on a wall and somehow having acquired an apple. Duke slips out while people swarm her, and locks up after himself. They’ll be alright. If the Riddler was going to fry them, he would have done it ages ago. 

 

_ Duke Thomas you are capable of  _

 

He’s free from the stuffiness of the maze, and on the rooftops, hunting ghosts, Duke has never felt more free. He just needs to find the others, and come up with a plan to put the dead to rest. 

 

His bud buzzes. Someone got comms online while he was underground. He clicks it on. “Signal here.” 

 

_ “-to anyone listening on this wave, come to the Tower and regroup. Stay away from Nightwing. Repeat. Stay away from Nightwing. Report any sighting of Signal, Batman or Batwoman. New frequency for chatter is-,”  _

 

Oracle’s says the frequency and it loops back. He has the entire message memorized after the repetition, and he tunes into the new channel and starts to head towards to the Clock Tower. 

 

Bruce and Kate were missing? For how long and what the hell were they doing? It wasn’t a night to go solo. At all. And what the  _ hell  _ was up with Dick? He ought to do a loop of the area, see if he could find any of them-

 

_ DUKE THOMAS YOU ARE CAPABLE OF INSPIRING GREAT HOPE _

 

He wasn’t given the chance to say no. The ring crashed onto his finger, and for a long, long moment, all Duke could see was  _ blue _ …

_ WELCOME TO THE BLUE LANTERNS _

 

When the light stopped, Duke touched the radio.

  
“Uh guys, you aren’t gonna believe this…”


End file.
